What size AC for Cliffside Park, NJ? 2.5 tons for 2,000 sq ft

What size AC a 2,000 sq ft house in Cliffside Park needs

2.5 tons central AC or heat pump, about 30,700 BTU/hr of load

The 20 BTU per square foot chart would put in 3.5 tons, about 37% more than this climate needs. An oversized unit cools the air fast, shuts off before it pulls moisture out, and leaves the house cold and clammy.

If a contractor quotes you more than 2.5 tons for an average 2,000 sq ft house here, ask to see the Manual J load calculation behind it before you sign. That works out to one ton per 781 square feet in this climate. For a single room, size by the room: 15.4 BTU/hr per square foot.

The climate it is sized for

Climate from NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normals at NY City Central Park (3.1 mi away). Jul is the hottest month, averaging a high of 84.9°F and a low of 70.1°F, with about 17 days a year at 90°F or more. That gives a design temperature of 89°F against 75°F inside.

What it costs to run

About 1,801 kWh a year at SEER2 14.3, or roughly $434 at New Jersey's average residential rate of 24.09¢ per kWh. Cooling runs 5 months of the year here.

What drives the load in Cliffside Park

Of the 30,700 BTU/hr, 10,080 comes through walls, roof and windows on a 89°F afternoon (33%), 13,000 is sun on the house (42%), 2,120 is four people and their appliances, and 5,500 is moisture the coil has to wring out of Cliffside Park's summer air (18%).

Sun is the biggest share here, more than heat through the walls, so shading west windows and a light roof cut the size you need more than extra insulation would. Sensible heat totals 25,200 BTU/hr before the moisture allowance.

Other house sizes in Cliffside Park

Single rooms with a window or mini-split unit: a 150 sq ft bedroom needs about 2,300 BTU/hr; a 350 sq ft living room needs about 5,400 BTU/hr; a 600 sq ft open plan kitchen and family room needs about 9,200 BTU/hr.

Month by month in Cliffside Park

Jul alone uses 32% of the year's cooling energy. The unit runs the equivalent of 838 hours a year at full output.

Cliffside Park against nearby cities

Of 116 New Jersey cities here, Cliffside Park has the 65th highest cooling load. The range runs from Hackettstown at 26,400 BTU/hr to Camden at 34,300.

Where Cliffside Park's weather numbers come from

The nearest NOAA station with full 1991 to 2020 normals is NY City Central Park, across the line in New York, 3.1 miles from the center of Cliffside Park at 140 ft above sea level. That is close enough that the station's summers are Cliffside Park's summers.

8 other cities use the same station and get the same climate inputs. The closest to Cliffside Park: Edgewater (1 mi away, 3.2 mi from the station), Fairview (1 mi away, 3.4 mi from the station), Guttenberg (2 mi away, 2.1 mi from the station), West New York (3 mi away, 2.2 mi from the station), Union City (4 mi away, 3.4 mi from the station). Cliffside Park is farther from the station than 2 of them.

The sun over Cliffside Park in late July

At 40.82°N, the noon sun on 21 July stands 69.6° above the horizon over Cliffside Park and the day runs 14 h 30 min from sunrise to sunset. A lower noon sun puts more of the day's heat on east and west walls than on the roof, which is why shading west glass pays off here. Shorter days give the house a longer night to shed the day's heat.

26,183 people live in Cliffside Park, the 37th largest of the 116 New Jersey cities sized on this site. Coordinates used: 40.8220, -73.9879.

Cliffside Park AC sizing questions